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13,000 to Reenact Battle of Antietam in Maryland

The 140th anniversary of the bloody Civil War Battle of Antietam will be commemorated this week with a reenactment expected to draw more than 13,000 participants to a Hagerstown, Md., field nine miles north of the original battle site. More than 4,800 died in 1862 when Union forces beat back an attempted Confederate invasion of the North led by Gen. Robert E. Lee.

It will be the largest Civil War reenactment since one in Gettysburg, Pa., in 1998 drew more than 20,000 reenactors, said Dennis Frye, co-chairman of the private, nonprofit Antietam Commemoration Committee Inc.

Spectator tickets for the event, Sept. 13 to 15, are $17 per day in advance and $20 at the gate for adults; children 6 to 12 pay $10 per day. Hagerstown-area lodgings were full as of last week, organizers said. But the town is about 65 miles from Baltimore and Washington, D.C., so it is possible to drive in for the day. (888) 248-4597, www.antietamreenactment.org.